Automatic shank wire inserting device



April 27, 1954 F. w. GILLMAN AUTOMATIC SHANK WIRE INSERTING DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed March 27, 195

, i M f m W I I I I I l I l II. I I l |I|| [I4 I I I I I I I I l Il I April 27, 1954 w. GILLMAN AUTOMATIC SHANK WIRE INSERTING DEVICE v:2 sheets-sheet 2 Filed March 27, 1953 Patented Apr. 27, 1954 DEV WIRE IN SERTIN G ICE Ferdinand- W. Gillman, Bloomfield, N. J., assig'nor to Westinghouse Pittsburgh, Pa.,

Electric Corporation, East a corporation of Pennsylvania Application March'i, 1953, Serial No. 344,973

(Cl. liii-2) 2 Claims.

The present invention relates to the'manufac ture of incandescent lamps and; more particularly, to an automatic shank-wire--inserting device for an automatic inserting machine.

in the manufacture of incandescent lamps, it is weil known that tungsten wire becomes somewhat soft and pliable when heatedv to incandescence, and that the nlament coils may then be distorted or broken ii the lamp is subjected to shock or vibration while burning.' ToV guard against vibration, especially of the W amplitude high frequency variety, various types of sockets and fixtures, designed to protect the lamp by absorbing vibratiorrareV employed.

However, where the vibration can not be. eliminated by these means, extra filament' supports may be provided to satisfactorily cushion the filament during operation. For rough service' applica-tions, such` as usedY with extensionv cords where excessive shock may be encountered, rough service lamps having this specific type of shock resistant mount construction are used. These rough service lamps are designed to operate in any i ng position and may be used in lieu v tion service lamps where it is necessary burn the lamps horizontally. Bothl vibration d ough service lamps sacrice. some efficiency ngth. of construction and are more expenthan standard lamps.

The mount generally employed in vibration service lamps usually has a vitreous stem, provided with an axial stem arbor of vitreous cane of resilient leadingin conductors velg7 long inner portions project from stern pains and are bent substantially away iron; ic s of the stem. Suitable lalnent hooks provided intheir upper ends. The niainent support assembly has a vitreous fila-nient support arbor provided with a top bead or button a vertically depending shank wire (to give resilience to the assembly) and a series of spaced lateral filament support and tie wires inserted in the top button.

bottom portion of the shank Wire is emc. in the upper portion of the stem arbor. oi the upper supports may be secured about s upper ends of the leading-in conductors as 'tze-wires. The remaining lament support wires are curled about the lament wh-ich has its outer nds secured in the hooks formedy in the upper ends of the leading-in conductors. v

The rough service larnent support assembly diiers from that of the vibration service filament support assembly in having an intermediate button formed in the fila-ment support arbor and a series of intermediate. lainent support and tie-wires inserted in a center bead or button, as well as upper iilarnent support wires inserted in the top bead.

In the past the shank wire has been inserted into the heated bottom portion of the filament support wire by hand. This has been a low speed Hence, it has been found advantageous according to my invention shank-Wire-inserting wire-inserting machine which will automatically alignV the shank wire in the proper position without interfering with the unloading and other loading operations and embed accurately and quickly the shank wire into the bottom portion of a filament support arbor. I have provided a magnetic holding jaw for securing the shank wire in the proper location with respect to the lament support arbor and a novel heating and inserting device for piasticizing the lower portion oi the support arbor, means for oxidizing the shank wire and accurately inserting the shank wire into the lower portion of said support arbor.

According to my invention, the operatol` places the arbor cane glass in the holding jaws of the automatic wire inserting machine head at Station l, vthe loading station, and inserts the shank wire in the magnetic jaw. When the loaded head i.. dexes to Station 2, the center-button-formand shank-wire-nserting station, a` pair of burners heat the center and lower portion of the support arbor and oXidize the top of the shank wire. When the center-button-foriner cornes down to make the center button the shankwire-inserting device connected to the button former, pushes the shank Wire into the plastic lower1 end of the support arbor.

In its' general aspect the present invention has as its objective the elimination of the separate hand operation o1 inserting the shank wire into the filament support arbor, prior to loading into an automatic support-Wire-inserting-xnachine n specific object of the present invention is a magnetic shank holding jaw for securing a shank Wire in the proper position at an unloading and loading station without interfering with the unloading and other loading operations.

An additional object is a shank-wire-inserting device connected to a button former at a centerbutton-forming and shank-wire-inserting station for inserting an oxidized shank wire into a plastic lower portion of a nlanient support arbor, and a pair of burners namely, an arbor-plasticizingburner and a shank-wire-oxidizing-burner.

A further object is an automatic shank-wireinserting device for an automatic Wire-inserting machine which eliminates a hand operation, increases the rate of production, and improves the alignment and quality of the' shan'kwire inserting.

Other objects of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art to which it appertain's, as the description thereof proceeds both by direct recitation and by implication of the context.

Referring to the drawing iny which likenuto' provide an automatic device for an automatic merals of reference indicate similar parts throughout the several views:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view, partially in section, of a center-button-iorming and shankwire-inserting station of an automatic wireinserting machine showing the shank-wireinserting device and arbor-heating and shankwire-oxidizing burners of my invention.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the arbor-plasticizing and shank-wire-oxidizing burners on the line II-II of Fig. 1, in the direction of the arrows.

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view on the line III-III of Fig. 1, in the direction of the arrows.

Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic plan view of an auto matic wire-inserting machine incorporating the automatic shank-wire-inserting device of my invention.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view of a head of a wire-inserting machine at the parts feeding station, showing wire-holding-jaw of my invention, and the lower and upper filament-support-arbor-holding-jaws of said head.

Fig. 6 is a side elevational View, partially in section, of the head at the centerbutton-form ing and shank-wire-inserting station of the automatic wire-inserting machine, showing the parts at the time of the automatic shank-wire-inserting operation.

Fig. '1 is a horizontal sectional view of the magnetic shank-wire-holding-jaw on the line VII-VII of Fig. 6, in the direction of the arrows.

Fig. 8 is a side elevational view, partially in section, of the head at Station 3, the centerfilament-support-insertion station, showing the parts at the time of inserting the filament supports into the center button.

Fig. 9 is a side elevational view, partially in section, of a head at Station 4, the top button forming station.

Fig. 10 is a side elevational View, partially in section, of the head at Station 5, the top lament-support inserting station.

Fig. 11 is a view, similar to Fig. 10, of the head at Station 6, the discharge station showing the filament-support-arbor assembly after the holding jaws have opened.

Referring to the drawing, and more particularly to Fig. 1, an automatic wire-inserting machine is designated by the reference numeral I0. This wire-inserting machine I8 comprises a rotatable turret I2 carrying a plurality of heads I4 which are indexable thru a plurality or" stations by conventional means (not shown). The turret I2 comprises an annular ange i6 extending from a hub I8 which is keyed to a rotatable hollow shaft I9. The shaft I9 is rotatable within a bushing in a stationary table of the machine I0. A suitable thrust bearing 22 is provided between the hub I8 and the table 20.

The flange I6 of the turret I2 is provided with a plurality, in the present showing 6, of hollow head-receiving sockets 28. Each of the heads I4 has an L-shaped base bracket 38 having a vertical portion provided with a bifurcated upper end and a hollow cylindrical lower portion tted into the socket 28.

An arbor-holding-jaw-operating plunger 32 extends thru the lower cylindrical portion of the bracket and the socket 28 and is slidable therein. A reduced lower portion of the plunger 32 extends beyond the socket 28, and a cam plate 36 on the socket 28 and carries a disc 38 on its lower end engageable by a low headthe magnetic shankengaging lug-carrying plunger operating plate 40 which is reciprocable in the table 20, by means such as an air cylinder (not shown). A return spring about the plunger 32 is contained within the lower cylindrical portion of the bracket 30. As the head centers Station 6, the discharge station, and Station 1, the loading station, the disc 38 is gripped by lugs on the operating plate 46 and moved downwardly thereby. The upper end of the plunger 32 carries a vertical slide plate 42.

The slide plate 42 is provided with an operating pin 44 which extends through suitable inclined slots 45 and 46 (Fig. 3), in a pair of swingable jaw supporting plates 41 and 48. The swingable plates 41 and 48 have their lower ends pivoted on the base bracket 30 and are disposed one behind the other between the base bracket 30 and the slide plate 42. The swingable plates 41 and 48 carry respectively on their upper ends the lower arbor holding jaws 50 and 52 (Fig. 5).

It will be understood that, as the plunger 32 and slide plate 42 are moved downwardly by the plunger operating plate 46, the operating pin 44 moves downwardly in the bifurcated ends of the base bracket 30 and in the inclined slots 45 and 46 of jaw-supporting plates 41 and 48, thus causing the plates 41 and 48 to pivot outwardly from the axis of the head I4 to permit loading of a filament support arbor 54 therein, as hereinafter explained.

As shown in Fig. 5, the lower-iilament-supportarbor jaw 52 carries a magnetic shank-wireholding jaw 56. rihis jaw 56 (Fig. l1) is generally cylindrical in shape, and has a V-shaped slot cut in its loading side. It is provided with a pair of magnetic inserts 58 (Fig. 5) for securing a magnetic shank wire 68, suitably nickel, thereagainst, as hereinafter explained.

Above the hub I8 of the turret I2 an upper spider 62, carrying a plurality of upper arbor holding jaws 64, is secured to the shaft I9. It will be understood that there is one pair of jaws 84 for each head I4 and that each pair of jaws 64 is axially aligned with the lower jaws 58 and 52 when they are in closed or holding position. As shown in Fig. 2, particularly, the jaws 64 of general Z-shape, are pivoted in scissor-like fashion on the spider 62 and have their inner or non-holding ends connected by means of a suitable spring to properly exert the desired gripping action on the arbor 54.

At Station 2, the center-buttoniorrning and shank-wire-inserting station, a center-buttonorming-burner 58 and an arbor-plasticizing and shank-wire-oxidizing-burner i3 are mounted on a gas supply pipe 12 (Figs. 1 and 2). This pipe 12 is mounted on and extends through the table 26 to a suitable gas supply (not shown). t will be understood that the burner 68 is directed approximately, as shown in Fig. l, at the center portion of the arbor 54, the desired point at which the center button is to be formed. The burner 10 is directed at the lower end of the arbor 54 and the upper end of the shank wire 65.

A hollow button forming shaft 14 (Fig. 1) is reciprocable (but not rotatable) within the shaft I3, and on a stationary shaft guide 15 by conventional means (not shown). The shaft 14 carries a hub 16 on its upper end having an arm 18 extending laterally over the axis of the head at Station 2, the center-button-forming and shank-wire inserting station (Fig. l), and another arm (not shown) extending in like manner over the axis of the head at Station 4, the

top-button-forming station. The arm 18 carries near its mid-point an adjustable vertical button former 80 for forming the center button, as hereinafter explained. The outer end of the arm 'I8 carries a shank-wire-inserting-operating rod 82 for reciprocating engagement with one end of a shank-wire-inserting lever 84, pivotably mounted on a collar 86 secured to gas inlet pipe 12.

This lever 84 is provided with a slot B8 in its side for limiting rotating motion of the lever 84. The slot 88 receives a restraining pin projecting from the side wall of the collar 86. The inner or operating end of the lever 84 is disposed adjacent the vertical axis of the head I 4 and the vertically depending shank wire 60, held in the magnetic jaw 56 of the head I4.

The stationary shaft guide 'l5 is provided with an arm-carrying hub 9U, shown in Fig. 1. The arms (not shown) of the hub 96 extend laterally over Station 6, the discharge station, and Station 1, the loading station, and are provided with downwardly depending stops and centralizing guides 92 (Fig. 5) to facilitate the loading and aligning of the filament support arbor 54 into the jaws 64.

Operation As an empty head I4 indexes into Station 1, the parts loading station (Fig. 5), the disc 38 on the bottom of the plunger S2 is secured in the plunger operating plate 46 and reciprocated downwardly thereby. This downward motion of the plunger 32 opens the movable jaws 4? and 48 to permit the loading of a filament support arbor 54 into the spring biased upper arbor holding jaws 64, and against the stationary' stop 92, thus centralizing and positioning the arbor 54 accurately in the head I4. Simultaneously a shank wire 6D is inserted in the now slightly inclined magnetic jaw 56 so that its upper end is suitably approximately 1A," below the lower end of the arbor 54. 'I'his positioning is relatively important so that the flame from the burner 'I6 simultaneously plasticizes the lower portion of the arbor 54 and oxidizes the upper end of the shank wire 68.

As the now loaded head I4 indexes from Station 1 to Station 2, the center-button-forming and shank-wire-inserting station, the disc 68 leaves the gripping lugs of the plunger operating plate 49. The movable lower arbor jaws 56 and 52 are swung inwardly by the action of the return spring about the plunger 32, thus moving the jaws 50 and 52 into the closed or holding position about the lower portion of the positioned arbor 54.

At Station 2, the center-button-forming and shank-wire-inserting station (Figs. 1, 2, 3, 6, and 7), the burner 68 plasticizes the center portion of the arbor 54. Simultaneously, the burner ticizes the lower portion of the arbor 54 and oxidizes the upper end of the shank wire 66. Near the end of the operating cycle the button forming shaft 'i4 is reciprocated downwardly by conventional means (not shown). This downward motion of the shaft 14 and hence the arm 18 amxed thereto causes the simultaneous downward movement of the center-button-formingrod 80 and the shank-wire-inserting-operatingrod 82 carried thereon. The center-button-forming-rod 80 contacts the upper end of the arbor 54 held in the jaws 50 and 52, causing the plasticized center portion of the arbor 54 to collapse or spread out laterally, to form a center button 94 (Fig. 6). At the same time the lower end of the operating rod 82 contacts the outer end of the lever 84, causing the inner or operating end of the lever 84 to push the shank wire 68 into the now plasticized lower end of the arbor` 543.

At Station 3, the center-lament-supportinserting station (Fig. 8), the now formed center button 94 is maintained in a semi-plastic condition. A plurality of center lament support and tie-wires 96, 6 for example, are individually inserted into the button 94 at equi-spaced intervals and the outer portions of each support is curled by a conventional wire-feeding and support-curling mechanism, not shown.

At Station 4, the top-button-forming station (Fig. 9), the upper end of the arbor 54 is suitably heated by a plasticizing burner (not shown). Near the end of the operating cycle a top button former (not shown), similar to the center button former 89 at Station 2, aflixed to the other arm (not shown) of the hub 'F6 moves downwardly to compress the plastic upper end of the arbor 5d (Fig. 9), thus forming the top button 98.

At Station 5, the top-filament-support-inserting station (Fig. 10), the now formed top button 98 is maintained in a semi-plastic condition by a burner (not shown) and a plurality of top ilament supports I, for example 4, are automatically inserted into the button 98 and curled on the outer ends by conventional means (not shown) thus completing the manufacture of a Afilament support assembly |02.

As the head I4 indexes from Station 6, the discharge station, the disc 38 on the plunger 32 is gripped by a second pair of lugs on the plunger operating plate 49 and the movable jaws 59 and 52 are opened by the downward motion of the plate 46, as hereinbefore explained, thus permitting the facile removal (Fig. l1) by the operator of the now completed filament support assembly |02 from the spring biased upperarbor-holding-jaws 64.

Although a preferred embodiment of my invention has been disclosed it will be understood that modications may be made within the spirit and scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. In combination an automatic button-forming and shank-wire-inserting device for an automatic wire-inserting machine comprising a reciprocating arm, a button-former and a shankwire-inserting-operating rod cn said arm, a lever having one end engageable with said operating rod and the other end engageable with a shank wire which is to be inserted.

2. An automatic wire-inserting machine having at least a table, a turret mounted on said table and indexable from station to station, a plurality of heads on said turret, each of said heads having at least means for holding a lamentsupport-arbor thereon and magnetic means for securing a shank wire thereto, means on said table for plasticizing the center portion of said arbor and means on said table for plasticizing the lower portion of said arbor and oxidizing the upper end of said shank wire, and a reciprocable combination button forming and shank wire inserting device on said table.

Station 5 to References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

